Carpet cleaning brushes of the type adapted to be mounted on a rotating or oscillating machine typically comprise a base portion by which the brush is secured to the underside of the machine and a large number of closely packet fibers or bristles which extend vertically from the base to scrub the carpet. In addition to constituting the scrubbing element of the brush, these bristles also must support the weight of the brush and the rotating or oscillating driving machine. Despite the closely packed configuration of these bristles, the combination of the machine weight and the movement of the brush causes the bristles to lay over on their sides so that the scrubbing action is actually no more than a wiping of the sides of the bristles over the carpet filaments, which have also been layed down due to the weight and movement of the brush. In this position, the carpet fibers cannot be thoroughly cleaned and the carpet matting is shielded from the scrubbing action of the bristles, preventing any dirt or other foreign matter thereon from being dislodged. This problem is particularly acute with the use of rotary-type machines, wherein the carpet is continually pressed down in a given direction. However, even with the use of oscillating equipment, the construction of the brush sufficiently compacts the carpet fibers such that neither they nor the carpet can be thoroughly cleaned.
While several different methods have been developed for cleaning carpets, such as wet shampoo, steam and dry foam, most all of these methods utilizes in at least one step thereof the scrubbing of the carpet with a power driven brush. If the brush overly compresses the carpet fibers, as described above, the cleaning process is necessarily impeded. To avoid this problem, the brush should ideally be constructed in such a manner that it tends to raise the carpet pile as opposed to flattening the pile, as lifting of the pile could not only expose all sides of the fibers to the scrubbing action of the brush's bristles, but additionally exposes the carpet backing so that any foreign matter accumulating thereon could be removed. To facilitate removal of such matter, it would ideally be desirable to provide the brush with a beating action of such a nature that when combined with the scrubbing movement of the brush's bristles a kneading effect on the carpet fibers is created. Such a scrubbing of the fibers would produce a far superior cleaning of the carpet and thereby greatly enhance any carpet cleaning process.